Jim Mattis, Travel Ban, Pakistan: Your Morning Briefing

• The U.S. defense secretary,Jim Mattis, laid the groundwork for this week’s meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, using his first overseas tour as Pentagon chief to tighten ties with South Korea and Japan.

Mr. Trump, who spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, heads to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa for security and military briefings and to meet with U.S. troops.

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Video

President Trump has questioned a deal to bring migrants held by Australia into the United States as refugees. Here is what daily life looks like for one of them.Published OnFeb. 2, 2017CreditImage by Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times

•The rare diplomatic rift that opened between the U.S. and Australia last week focused on Mr. Trump’s dislike of an Obama-era agreement for the U.S. to take in 1,250 refugees from Australia’s offshore detention centers.

Above, one of those refugees, a Kurdish dissident from Iran, sent video diaries showing what his life in detention looks like.

In the News

• Pushback from Congress and cabinet officials appears to have prompted the Trump White House to back off its consideration of reopening C.I.A. overseas “black site” prisons. [The New York Times]

• The satirical TV show “Saturday Night Live” went to town on President Trump and the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. [The New York Times]

• Two-thirds of the U.S. troops killed in action in the last 12 months served in Special Operations units, as the Pentagon shifts to specialized warriors from conventional troops on the ground. [The New York Times]

• Heavy snow and avalanches have killed scores of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past three days. [BBC]

• In eastern China, a fire tore through a second-floor foot-massage parlor, sending some people jumping out of windows and leaving at least 18 dead, the state news media reported. [South China Morning Post]

• “One of my easiest and biggest heists.” That’s how the acrobatic burglar known as “Spiderman” described his 2010 theft of five masterpieces from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. [The New York Times]

Smarter Living

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CreditAndrew Scrivani for The New York Times

•We’re in Week 2 of New Year’s resolution month, when we’re helping you to stick to your goals. If you joined last week, welcome back. If not, there’s still time to participate.

A key to staying motivated is to create habits that take away the opportunity to slip up. This is a concept my colleague Charles Duhigg has explored: “At the core of every habit is a neurological loop with three parts: a cue, a routine and a reward. To understand how to create habits — such as exercise habits — you must learn to establish the right cues and rewards.”

This article tells you how to do that. I can attest to the power of this approach, and we want you to try it out yourself. Email us with one habit that would support your resolution, and how you’re going to create it. Near the end of the month, we’ll check back in with some of these and see how you did. — Tim Herrera, Smarter Living editor

•Recipe of the day: For a step away from weeknight pasta, try your hand at ricotta gnocchi.

Noteworthy

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CreditKentaro Takahashi for The New York Times

• Hideo Yokoyama, a former police reporter, is one of Japan’s most popular crime novelists. “Six Four,” his first book to be translated into English, and a best-seller in Britain, goes on sale in the U.S. on Tuesday.

Back Story

Last week, the actor Peter Capaldi made headlines when he announced he would be leaving his starring role on “Doctor Who,” the long-running British television series about a time-traveling alien.

The Doctor — who isn’t referred to as Doctor Who — is a Time Lord from a distant planet who explores the universe in a time machine called the Tardis (which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space). A plucky human companion usually accompanies the Doctor, who faces a rotating cast of alien adversaries.

Originally conceived as a family-friendly educational program, the series began in 1963 and, with the exception of a 16-year gap (1989-2005), has been broadcast ever since.

The show is a national institution in Britain and a cult favorite elsewhere in the world, with more than 800 episodes (a Guinness world record).

The Doctor is capable of regenerating, a concept that was introduced to prolong the series when its first lead actor, William Hartnell, left amid failing health.

Mr. Capaldi, above, is the 12th actor — and the 12th white man — to fill the role. Fans have urged the producers to address the lack of diversity when the 13th Doctor makes his — or her — debut.